The Lavender Festival

I am going to take a break from picking on any of my family members (there may be a few colorful character illustrations, though) and tell about our wonderful weekend at the Lavender Festival. Los Ranchos, the village my parents live in, hosts an annual Lavender Festival every year in July. Los Poblanos farm, a few wineries, and the local farmer's market are swarming with folks who come to pick their own bundle of lavender at the farm, buy veggies at the market, or enjoy sampling some local grapes.

The farmer's market is within walking distance from my parent's casa, so Chris and I set out on foot to explore the vendor's wares. There were lotions and shampoos and oils scented with lavender, pottery made by local artists, jewelry, antiques, you could even buy coffee with a shot of lavender syrup in it (which Chris turned down because he considered it a bit frou frou, I think).

Last year I picked my own bundle of lavender from the big bushes (actually the ones pictured here), this year I was content to just smell that wonderful scent as we walked around Los Poblanos farm checking out the lily pond, the chickens, and my favorite...the baby goats. I didn't know you could scratch a goat behind the ears just like a dog. They like that. I want one. But Chris says they'll eat every living thing in our yard and then die. Because he will kill it shortly after the last green thing disappears? I don't know. But apparently they eat and then die...which doesn't really sound like that bad of a life, but I digress.

Chris was a bit too hungry to linger around the farm for long, so we walked to Flying Star for some lunch. Then we walked back to the farm to catch the shuttle that was meant to take us back to the market. However, the Festival has grown each year, and they have not managed to keep up with the growth by providing timely transportation to and from the events. We stood in line for awhile, and it became rather obvious that it took the buses a long time to come around and that once they managed to actually arrive, we had a slim chance of making it on board since the line was about 100 people deep. I expressed my frustration in a practical way: I pointed out the fruitlessness of casting our hope in those shuttles; I told Chris I was glad we hadn't brought our bikes as I'd suggested because that would have been too easy; I casually mentioned that I wasn't much for standing in lines...but, then the lady in front of us ruined it all for me when she turned around and told me that she couldn't hear all that we were talking about, but she hoped that Chris was the positive one in the relationship. What does she know?

After the buses came and summarily departed sans us, we decided to walk back to the market. My parents happened to call and tell us they were on their way and would pick us up. I knew my dad was driving when we had practically reached our destination and still hadn't seen them. We finally spotted them and they pulled over to tell us that they had two passengers to drop off at the farm and would pick us up on the way back. Oh well. I only had two blisters. It's not like blisters are unpleasant or anything.

It really was a great day. If you are ever in need of a little rural rejuvenation, I would highly recommend it. And, please try the lavender coffee. I think it deserves to be sampled.